17th Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Conference (NANOTR-17), İzmir, Turkey, 27 - 29 August 2023, pp.104
Millions of people have suffered from acute and chronic skin wounds, such as injury, burns and diabetic ulcers. These wounds may cause acute or chronic pain, infection, loss of tissue function, prolonged hospitalization, huge financial burden, social stress, anxiety, increased morbidity, and mortality. Every year, healthcare systems worldwide spend at least $25 billion on the treatment of wound-related complications worldwide. Traditional wound treatment strategies cannot meet the clinical requirements for wound healing; hence, there is a huge need for a modern wound treatment approach. In this study, we developed a novel biocompatible and biodegradable polymeric wound dressing membrane with antibacterial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. The electrospinning technique was utilized to fabricate wound dressing membranes from a blend of polycaprolactone, a synthetic polymer and gelatin, a natural polymer. The antibacterial Viburnum Opulus plant extract was encapsulated in the electrospun membranes as a ratio of 25, 35, and 50%, (w/v). The membranes were then characterized chemically, morphologically, physically, and mechanically. All electrospun membranes showed uniform, bead-free fiber structures with diameters of 500-1200 nm in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images. Moreover, they exhibited that great antibacterial activity as demonstrated by the formation of inhibition zones of 14 mm to 36 mm against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Importantly, the antibacterial plant extract did not exhibit any toxic effect on cell viability tests conducted on the human fibroblast cell line. Therefore, antibacterial plant extract containing electrospun membrane shows great potential for modern wound healing applications.